Teachers, union leaders urge school committee to restore reading and classroom assistants with new state funds

Three Acton‑Boxborough educators and the president of the district’s teachers union urged the School Committee on Thursday to use newly signaled state revenue to restore reading-assistant and elementary classroom-assistant positions that were cut from next year’s budget.

Leah Lally, a kindergarten and grade‑1 teacher at Miriam, told the committee that the district’s recent staffing cuts have weakened the MTSS (multi‑tiered system of supports) model and reduced early‑intervention capacity. “Reading assistance and classroom assistance give you the most bang for your buck,” Lally said, adding that early intervention “reduces the number of students requiring long‑term special education services” and builds students’ confidence.

April Sears, a reading assistant at McCarthy‑Town, described the role as direct instruction rather than routine classroom help. “In my role as a reading assistant, I provide direct, targeted, systematic, explicit instruction,” Sears said. She said 4 eliminated reading‑assistant positions would deprive roughly 100 of the district’s neediest students of targeted intervention. “I think it would cost $80,000 or so to do so, which is a fraction of the total school budget,” she added.

Mike Balulescu, president of the district teachers’ union and an Acton resident, said the recent increases in state funding — including Chapter 70 (foundation) increases, additional circuit breaker reimbursement and regional transportation aid — reflected educators’ advocacy and should be used to restore staff. “Now that the state has done its part and made a good‑faith effort to respond to the needs of our students and our staff, it’s time for you to do your part and find a way to make these dollars count next year,” Balulescu said.

Superintendent Peter Light (title used in committee materials) told the committee the administration is preparing a budget amendment for the next meeting. The amendment, he said, would reduce the assessment to the two member towns to free up local town‑side dollars and use some state aid to add back staff; he said one component would use the first pocket of Chapter 70 money to “backfill” roughly $150,000 split along the assessment formula.

The public comments came during the meeting’s public participation period; no committee vote on restoring positions occurred that night. Committee materials and the superintendent’s remarks indicate administrators will present a formal budget amendment for committee action at the next meeting.

The concerns voiced by teachers focused on scope and implementation: reading assistants and classroom assistants were described as essential to Tier‑2 interventions and progress monitoring; removing them, speakers argued, would slow identification of at‑risk readers and reduce available intervention time.

School committee members did not make a formal decision during the public‑comment period. The administration’s planned budget amendment, once presented, will provide a formal opportunity for committee action on whether and how to allocate the additional state funds.

The committee’s next meeting is scheduled in two weeks, when members will consider the administration’s proposed amendment and other budget items.